The first day of May is a very important date for workers worldwide when labor movements celebrate their social and economic achievements. In the Philippines, May 1 usually marks a new battle for labor groups and advocates as they strive to fight for better or higher wages for workers. As long as I can remember (since I moved to Manila in college) the common scene at this time of the year are rallies in Maynila, specifically in Mendiola and near Malacañan Palace. But this post is not about Labor Day or wage hikes. I leave the discussion of these topics to the experts.

I wait for a different ‘event’ in May. I’m a probinsyana, a girl from the countryside. I grew up running along cornfields, chasing chickens, walking between paddy fields and watching rice stalks gracefully dancing to the music of the provincial breeze, climbing guava trees, collecting sticky sap from the trunk of jackfruit trees and use it to catch dragonflies and butterflies in the field (hell! I didn’t even know the existence of the net!).